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edgeways

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get a word in edgewise and get a word in edgeways

Fig. to manage to say something when other people are talking and ignoring you. (Often in the negative. Alludes to trying to "squeeze" a word into a running conversation.) It was such an exciting conversation that I could hardly get a word in edgewise. Mary talks so fast that nobody can get a word in edgeways.

See also: and, edgeways, edgewise, get, word

get a word in edgewise

to find an opportunity to say something Harold talked so much that nobody else could get a word in edgewise.

See also: edgewise, get, word

get a word in edgeways

  (British, American & Australian informal) also get a word in edgewise (American informal)

if you can't get a word in edgeways, you do not have an opportunity to say anything because someone is talking so much or so quickly Roz was talking so much that nobody else could get a word in edgeways.

See also: edgeways, get, word

get a word in edgewise

Also, get a word in edgeways. Insert oneself into a conversation or express one's opinion despite competition from other speakers. For example, So many people had questions for the lecturer that it was hard to get a word in edgewise, or Nancy loves to talk, and I couldn't get a word in edgeways. This idiom, often put in the negative, transfers an object with its edge foremost to inserting conversation. [Late 1700s]

See also: edgewise, get, word